


Behind the Story

by FremioneFabulousness



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/M, Modern Era, Multi, Post-War, Social Media
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 03:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FremioneFabulousness/pseuds/FremioneFabulousness
Summary: A story documenting the healing process the wizarding world goes through after the war, and which relationships arise as a result of this process. Made to couple an Instagram series on my Tumblr (@fremionefabulousness).





	Behind the Story

The war had ended just under 3 years ago but the healing process involved in rebuilding the wizarding community continued, which is how Harry and Hermione currently found themselves at a seemingly endless meeting with ministry officials, trying to sway opinion in favour of continuing post war rehabilitation programs. Programs that would focus on helping those dealing with not only physical, but also mental repercussions caused by the war. When the current Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt owled the trio asking if they would be interested in joining a discussion on the topic, Harry and Hermione both jumped at the opportunity. It was no secret that the war had taken more of a mental toll on Harry than most and having been a first-hand victim to a Cruciatus Curse and the effects of handling a horcrux, Hermione was no stranger to the less easily treated damage left behind by the war. So, with the combination of the passion they both felt for the subject, and Hermione’s ability to articulate a point the pair readily took this opportunity to continue to help the wizarding community develop and grow for the disarray it had fallen into. It was safe to say after all, that the wizarding approach to mental health (along with many other departments controlled by the Ministry) had been pretty laissez faire. You only had to look at a handful of cases including those of Alice and Frank Longbottom and even Harry himself to find neglect and dismissal in terms of mental health. As Hermione had experienced, the reckless abandon with which Voldemort’s followers had thrown around spells such as the Cruciatus Curse meant that it was evident that now more than ever support was needed, and not only for those directly affected by a curse but also for those who had watched family members and friends die in front of them, or for those who had barely escaped for their life. The list was endless and it was imperative that all cases of PTSD of any kind, spell related or not, were dealt with accordingly with the appropriate care.

This was the point that Hermione made after she noticed that Harry’s emotions had gotten the better of hi during a growingly heated argument with a certain Ministry official, his knuckles becoming white as he clenched his hands beneath the table. Hermione finished her point to find a table of individuals seemingly unable to find words to oppose or argue with what she had just said. Really, the shouldn’t be surprised, in the years following the war Hermione had been the only member of the golden trio to complete her education, working on her studies part-time as she shot up the ranks in the Care for magical creatures’ department of the Ministry reaching a stature only overruled by the head of the department of care shortly after completing her OWLS. After a further year however, it became evident that she would never be able to make the change she desired from inside the Ministry, even if she was able to become the Minister of magic herself. The restrictive and controlling nature of the Ministry that had once appealed to her when she was younger, she now saw only as a hinderance. Years of being best friends with a boy who couldn’t follow a rule to save his life, followed by a year on the run apparently can have a drastic effect on how a person views on society, especially what the best way to make change is. If Hermione had learnt anything from her years by Harry and Ron’s side it was that there was always an unexplored way to reach an outcome. With all of this in mind, Hermione had left her job at the Ministry instead opting to writing extremely in-depth articles about topics that she was passionate about, constantly questioning the ministry when necessary calling them out for any incompetence, and always backing her points with unwavering factual evidence.

As the meeting appeared to be over, with the table still stunned into silence, an authoritarian voice called out,  
“All in favour then, of implementing extensive medical options and treatments for those suffering with mental illness and turmoil caused by the war.” Kingsley called out. 12 of the 15 members around the table raised their hands in favour and the meeting was drawn to a close. “Thank you so much for coming today, I know how strongly you both feel about this subject so it only felt right that you were included. I’m only sorry to note that Ron could not make it.” Kingsley continued as they left the meeting room.  
“Thank you so much for inviting us, it was amazing to be a part of. In terms of Ron well he…” Harry trailed off looking towards Hermione with an unsure look in his eyes.  
“Ron decided this wouldn’t be the best setting for him, he felt his emotions would get the better of him, he often feels as if he still has to defend Harry and I, despite not always being the best at expressing himself…” Hermione filled in, glancing at Harry as he mouthed a silent thank you. It was near enough the truth Ron did have a tendency to let his emotions cloud his judgement, as was common among Gryffindors. The whole truth of the matter however was that Ron was actually doing considerably well for himself. He had stayed relatively out of the spotlight, in comparison to Harry and Hermione and seemingly wanted to keep it that way. In the years following the war Ron had found himself suited to an Auror roll more than Harry had, and having found comfort in a relationship with Katie Bell had brought a much-needed stability to Ron’s life as he continued, as they all did, to overcome the trauma the war had left behind.

“Ah of course, that is understandable.” Kingsley nodded, understanding the seemingly reclusive nature Ron had taken on post-war. He would return to Harry and Hermione’s side eventually, he always did. “There is actually a charity buffet on the second floor today if you have the time to spare I’m sure everyone who is there would love to see you, our meeting did run ever so slightly over.” He offered. They had run over, significantly Hermione noticed as she checked her watch, it was almost 2pm. Her realisation of the time was punctuated by a loud rumble from her stomach.

“Yeah, I guess I could do with some food” She said laughing as she held her stomach in attempt to mask the grumbling, looking towards Harry who was enthusiastically nodding his head in agreement. One thing the war hadn’t broken was his appetite.

They made their way downstairs to the second floor and were there greeted by a transformed space. The usually crowded office cubicles and meeting rooms had been swapped out for a large open space with tabled lining the outskirts piled high with food. This along with the rows of tabled which filled the centre of the space, not unlike the layout of the Great hall back at Hogwarts, made this feel more like a banquet than a buffet. The space was sectioned off by a fencing spell which allowed you to enter when money was deposited into the large purple box by the door.

The large spreads of food were instantly enticing, and Hermione found herself gravitating towards the array of fruit, the bright colours and promise of something refreshing drew her in. There were many charity organisations dotted around between the displays of food, the one nearest to Hermione being one advocating healthy living. (It made sense then to be next to a table covered in fruit).

“Oh wow, Hermione Granger?” Hermione heard a tentative voice call out, following the sound she turned to be greeted by one of the Volunteers from the healthy living organisation.

“Yes? Hi.” Hermione responded, putting forward her hand which was quickly shaken.  
“It’s so lovely to meet you, I’m Marissa here with the healthy living organisation” The woman introduced herself with an element of bashfulness. “I was just wondering if I could get a picture with you, all you have done for the community has been truly inspirational, and I loved your piece just recently, the one titled Healthy Being.” Marissa continued to gush. Hermione of course agreed to a picture and continued the conversation about the effects of healthy eating, learning not only that Marissa was extremely kind hearted and nurturing (a true Hufflepuff) but also that she was incredibly smart and taught Hermione more about the neurological effects diet can have than textbooks had during moths of research.

“Hey Marissa, could I ask you a favour just before you go?” Hermione asked, as their conversation ended as Marissa was called back to her stall to help manage the crowd of people who had just arrived. “Could you take a picture for me?” Hermione said as she managed to make eye contact with Harry and gesture for him to come over. Marissa of course accepted, and Harry and Hermione posed for a couple of pictures, Hermione opting to pose with some of the fruit she had previously picked up but hadn’t yet had the opportunity to eat. “Perfect thank you so much Marissa, you are doing amazing work!” Hermione said genuinely as the mini photoshoot came to an end. It was event’s like this that opened her eyes once again to how much of a platform and an influence she had, so even if it was something small she decided she would make use of it. Picking a picture of her, Harry and a watermelon captioning it ‘Me and my main man watermelon’. A light-hearted caption but a small subliminal message about prioritising fruit, even if it made no difference what so ever, it was a lovely picture.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161665934@N05/41187368655/in/dateposted-public/) [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/161665934@N05/27217618787/in/dateposted-public/)

 

 

Hours later and Hermione was finally home, able to take off what she now labelled as her “Ministry heels” and changed entirely into a more comfortable outfit before settling down on her sofa bundled up with blankets. Completely content. Opening up Instagram, she looked to check any comments on her post, smiling as many young witches and wizards simply tagged each other saying “us”, and lots of others which only contained an abundance of watermelon emoji’s. After she replied to Ron, an interaction between Fred and the Daily Prophet caught her eye, making her smile. The Daily Prophet had simply commented a bunch of hearts, The Daily Prophet unfortunately remained a completely bias and rumour filled tabloid which called itself news, obsessed with drama and speculation and apparently their constant attempt to wheedle their way into the golden trio’s life in any way they could, continued. As Hermione toyed with the idea of replying to Fred’s interaction with them she found her thoughts wandering.

 

It had been tough for the Weasleys and anyone close to them since the war as, as lots of others had, they had lost a member of the family to the war. Percy had been unfortunate enough to be caught under a crumbling wall after a deflected spell went array. Hermione didn’t think that she would be too affected by this, of course it was devastating to lose anyone but in all honestly, she had never interacted much with Percy since he was only occasionally at Weasley Sunday dinners due to work and was that many years above Hermione that she never got to know him like she had Ginny and even the twins. Despite this, in the time surrounding his funeral Hermione found herself seeing more and more of herself in Percy, the workacholic nature, his dedication to the ministry and rules. It wasn’t that Hermione was ashamed of these qualities but it made her think about if God forgive she had lost her life in that war, what would she be remembered for? She was certain Percy would be proud of the attributes he was being remembered for, his was always proud of his rule-abiding nature and had become closer to his family in the weeks before is untimely death, all in all Percy was remembered as a smart and caring soul who worked hard in every aspect of their life, be that for family or for work. Hermione however, had felt that there was more to her than just the bookworm most took her for. She was bookish yes, and for most of her early teens had been proud of just that, using her belief in herself to ignore the taunts from any peers, yet as she had grown up she had realised that her bookish nature wasn’t everything. Yes, she would use logic and reasoning to solve any conundrums the trio would find themselves in, but this in itself was now often used in a more rebellious manner after all, none of her escapades in Hogwarts had ever been anything near conventional.

In a way Hermione’s grief had been aimed toward the way in which see used to see the world, so black and white with herself in the right every time. If she followed the path, succeeded at every exam then she would be successful, but that’s not entirely how the real world works. The change that had taken place in Percy, from unwaveringly rule binding to standing up for his beliefs and his family had happened to Hermione many years prior but yet it took up until this point for her to realise it. The idea that she could not plan out her life at every turn had been, and still was in many ways, a very daunting prospect to Hermione who had no school schedule to keep to and was already unsure at her place in the Ministry, the future she had fought so hard for in the war appeared incredibly unnerving.

It had been Fred, Hermione reminisced, that had helped her out of this slump. The pair had found each other as they dealt with their own versions of grief, Fred had been with Percy when the wall collapsed and had episodes of immense guilt over lost moments with his brother who had in a way inspired Fred to succeed. In time, Hermione, along with George, helped Fred continue to create inventions for the shop and in turn Hermione found herself craving to spend more and more time at the shop with the Twins, coming to the understanding that a way of working that was unconventional can be just as fulfilling, if not more so. At least she had told herself, that the work was what mainly drew her back to the shop rather than anything else…


End file.
